


A Different Kind of Love

by PastelLunarPrince



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aromantic Relationship, F/M, Identity Reveal, aka this started out as a chat broke his arm reveal fic, and became this, anyway have this self indulgent whatever this is, aromantic adrien, aromantic marinette, confused teens and helpful kwamis, my autistic ass can't build relationships for shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2016-09-10
Packaged: 2018-08-14 05:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7999873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastelLunarPrince/pseuds/PastelLunarPrince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A broken arm leads to a reveal leads to some confusing mess leads to happiness.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Different Kind of Love

"Kitty."

Chat Noir flinched just a little at her tone, rubbing the back of his neck. "What can I say?"

"How about telling me how you plan on fighting crime with an out of commission arm?" Ladybug put her hands on her hips.

Ears twitching, Chat Noir shook his head. "I hadn't thought about that, honestly. I just wanted to let you know before anyone else."

Ladybug sighed and sat down beside her partner. "We'll figure it out." She grinned. "So how'd you manage to break it?"

"I was practicing on a rock climbing wall, and I misjudged my footing. Fell from near the top, doctor says I'm lucky all I broke was my arm," Chat Noir looked at the lime green cast. "My old man isn't too happy with how bright the cast is, but, eh." He shrugged and grinned, looking back up at Ladybug.

"Can I sign it?" Ladybug's eyes lit up as she looked up from his cast and met his gaze.

"Sign… It?" Chat Noir tilted his head, confused. He had seen it happen on television or in movies, but he didn't know that was a thing people actually did. His eyes widened at how enthused Ladybug looked. "Y-yeah! Of course you can sign it, my lady!"

Ladybug laughed and pulled a permanent marker from whatever magic portal hid in her yo-yo.

Chat watched with soft and intrigued eyes as his partner drew on the top of his cast near the crook of his elbow. He had really only broken his wrist, so the cast covered most of his forearm.

Once she had finished, Ladybug took a look at her work. There was her usual circle, halved by a line with five black dots, with LB underneath in swirly cursive letters; she had gotten carried away and drawn vines around the top of his cast, taking up a half inch all the way around. There were little ladybugs all through the vines.

"Sorry, I guess I got lost in thought."

"No, don't apologize. I love it!" Chat grinned, looking at the design. "Thank you so much!"

Ladybug chuckled. "Think you can keep up for patrol, or should I go on alone?" She dusted off her legs as she stood. She looked over their city from the rooftop. "Though, it seems particularly calm tonight."

"As much as I would rather spend as much time with you as possible," Chat said, standing and stretching. "I do have school tomorrow."

"Hmm," Ladybug nodded. "See you next time then, Chat." She gave a two-finger salute and swung off.

-

"What is this crowd for?" Marinette grunted as she pushed by yet another person.

"Who knows, girl," Alya shrugged, trying to keep her arm linked with Marinette as they stumbled into their classroom - _both_ of them being on time for once.

Marinette knew Alya was still talking, even as she zoned out at the sight of Adrien walking into the classroom - bright lime green cast on his right arm. She knew she was staring, but among all the other signatures and doodles, there was one near the top that Adrien hadn't let anyone even come close to. Vines. Ladybugs.

Oh. _Oh. Oh **no**_.

"Hey guys," Adrien waved, his usual greeting. "Wanna sign my cast?"

Alya nodded. "Duh!" She took the marker from the blonde model, momentarily ignoring Marinette's frozen and somewhat terrified expression. "Green's a bit showy, huh?"

"Yeah, my dad wasn't too happy with how bright it is," Adrien chuckled. He smiled at Alya's signature and tiny doodle of a camera. "Mari?"

_'My old man isn't too happy with how bright the cast is.'_

Marinette snapped out of her train of thought, looking directly into Adrien's bright green eyes.

"Chat…"

The word was a breath as Marinette left everything at her desk except the purse across her chest and bolted from the room. She didn't trip, and she didn't stop until she was out of the school building and in the courtyard.

Adrien was in shock. Marinette had made eye contact with him, but then actually ran. He knew that for some reason he made her nervous, but he never thought she'd run from him. He had the word she muttered, even Alya and Nino had missed it. He looked at the design from Ladybug on his cast and sighed.

"I got it," the blond smiled at his two friends. He set his bag down and calmly left the classroom. He walked the hall for a moment before figuring she'd want fresh air. He chuckled lightly when he saw her sitting on a bench. "I probably should have made an excuse to not go to patrols for a while, hmm?"

Marinette jumped at the sudden presence beside her before sighing. "Silly kitty, never thinking things through."

Adrien let out a small laugh and shrugged. "Well, you don't keep me around for my brains, my lady." He draped an arm over her shoulders, resting his head on top of hers as she leaned on his shoulder. It was familiar to them, even if not in their civilian forms.

"In retrospect, this makes sense," Marinette chuckled, wiping at her eyes. She hadn't realized there had been tears, but there they were. They weren't sad; oddly, they were tears of relief. The stress of having to keep her identity hidden from the one person who would understand a double life was gone. A weight had been lifted and the tears made her feel lighter.

"I'm sorry we didn't get to plan the reveal," Adrien murmured quietly. It was an odd sensation; the pressure on his chest from keeping the secret was gone. Though, he found that his feelings toward Ladybug and his feelings towards Marinette merging into one. It was a fantastic fondness, and he loved her dearly, but he was becoming unsure of the type of love; he wasn't sure if it was a romantic love anymore, or if it had ever been.

Marinette laughed dryly as she rolled her eyes. She sat up from her place against him and looked him straight in the eyes. She blinked once, twice, and smiled softly. She shook her head and looked away before smiling at him again.

"What?" Adrien became self-conscious as her gaze on him lingered. He shifted, bringing his arm - once over her shoulders - back to rub the back of his neck with his hand. "Is there something on my face?"

Shaking her head once more, Marinette looked upon her partner, her friend, with newfound love. Her feelings for Adrien and the trust she had for Chat mixed and muddled until she found herself in a familiar lull of comfort. Her heart held so much room for them - for him - and just his presence made the situation seem unimportant.

"No, nothing's on your face, Adrien."

"Good, because that would be embarrassing," Adrien grinned, dropping his arm to his side. "So… What does this make us? Like, how does it effect our teamwork? Our… relationship?"

Marinette shrugged and looked up toward the sky for a brief moment. "Friends?" She smiled at him and held out her hand. "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and I'm Ladybug."

Adrien laughed, but went along with it. He gripped her hand in his. "Friends it is. I'm Adrien Agreste, and I'm Chat Noir."

\---

That night at patrol found Marinette and Adrien lying on a thin throw blanket on a quiet rooftop looking at the sky, their kwami chatting not too far away.

"I had the biggest crush on Ladybug," Adrien said softly, arms crossed behind his head as a pillow. He kept his eyes trained on the night sky.

"I had a huge crush on Adrien Agreste," Marinette stated in reply. She, too, used her arms as a pillow and kept her eyes focused forward.

"Pedestal and everything?" Adrien quirked a brow.

"Pedestal and everything," Marinette repeated quietly. "I thought I had fallen for the person, honestly, and I'm sure I did. You know how awful our first meeting went… But, after you gave me your umbrella, that's when it started." She sighed and closed her eyes. "I thought I was in love, but as I thought about it today, I don't really think I know what romantic love is supposed to feel like, and now I wish I had gotten to be as close of a friend to you as Adrien as I did to you as Chat."

Adrien stayed silent for a moment before glancing at Marinette out of the corner of his eyes. He slowly shut them, let out a breath, and rolled over on his side to face her. "Mari."

Marinette opened her eyes and noticed he had moved. She rolled to face him, her expression telling him to continue.

"I feel like I did the same thing, honestly," Adrien chuckled. "I wish I had gotten to know Marinette more. But, I know that we're not completely different in and out of masks." He grinned. "I still like corny jokes and puns outside of the job, I'll have you know-"

"Yes, I know. You and Alya were punning up a storm the other day during our study session. Nino and I literally almost ran away!" Marinette laughed.

"And you sassed me that day too!" Adrien chuckled. "Very Ladybug of you." He wiggled his eyebrows and smiled at Marinette's laugh before becoming serious once more. "As far as romantic love goes… I have no experience with it, and honestly, I don't know if I want to. What I do know, is that I want to stay by your side, as friends, as partners, for as long as we're both able."

Marinette stared into his eyes and smiled, nodding. "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot, actually. I couldn't ask for anything better." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, squeaking out a laugh as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her to his chest in one of the most comforting hugs Marinette had ever experienced, despite the cast on Adrien's arm.

"It's almost one in the morning, you two," Plagg muttered, floating over to hover above the two.

"Marinette, your parents will be waking up in a few hours and it's Saturday and you promised to help your father with inventory," Tikki poked the top of her chosen's head.

Marinette scrambled out of the hug awkwardly and clumsily, taking three tries to actually stand up. "Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap!" She looked at Tikki with wide eyes.

Adrien laughed and shook his head at Marinette's flailing. He stood up in a smooth, fluid motion. "Plagg, claws out." Once the green washed over him, he bowed and took Marinette's hand in his own, placing a light kiss to her knuckles. "Maybe I'll see you tomorrow my lady."

Marinette smiled and rolled her eyes, poking his nose playfully. "I have to work in the bakery, and didn't you mention a shoot?" She placed her hands on her hips. "Tikki, spots on."

"I'll never get used to it as long as we live," Chat shook his head before shrugging. "And my father cancelled my shoots until this cast comes off. Kinda hard to photoshop it out." He grinned. "So, I'll be seeing you tomorrow." He shot double pistol-fingers in her direction before grabbing his baton, extending it, and jumping off of the roof.

Marinette watched him jumped a few roofs over before throwing out her yo-yo and making her way home for - hopefully - three and a half hours of sleep.

As things happen, Marinette didn't get a wink of sleep that night.

"Marinette…"

Marinette looked at her kwami, blinking slowly. She yawned for what had to be the twentieth time in the past five minutes. "I just don't know, Tikki. I love him, but it's not… Not how Maman and Papa love each other, at least I don't think it is…"

Tikki smiled and floated down and nuzzle against Marinette's cheek. "Oh, Marinette." She shook her head, "Most Ladybugs and Chat Noirs love each other. Some romantically, some just as acquaintances, some as friends, and some… Well some are special cases."

Marinette raised a brow and looked a Tikki imploringly.

The kwami rolled her eyes in mock exasperation.

-

"Yeah, it's simple kid, really," Plagg shrugged. "You love the girl as more than a friend but not in a girlfriend way. It happens." He took a bite of his cheese and swallowed before continuing as he watched Adrien scroll through a webpage on the computer. "There's a such thing as aromanticism, yet people who are aromantic still have deep relationships."

"Wait, Plagg, what was that word you just used?" Adrien asked, opening up a new tab on the browser. He was glad that all it took for Plagg to actually talk seriously to him was three wheels of the "top shelf" Camembert.

"Aromantic?" Plagg rolled his eyes. "Kid, if you're going to ask me for help, at least listen." He shoved the last bite of the second wheel of cheese in his mouth. "I'm sure Tikki is telling Marinette the same thing, now. We listened to your conversation on the roof." He floated to sit on Adrien's shoulder, abandoning his final wheel of cheese to do so.

Adrien stopped and glanced at his kwami. "Eavesdropper."

"That may be," Plagg shrugged. "But, listen Adrien, I may not show it all the time, but I do want you to be happy. And if that means helping you and your lady figure all of this out, then so be it."

"You'll still give me a hard time about it once the information is out of the way, won't you?" Adrien tried to hide his grin.

"You betcha," Plagg 'punched' Adrien's cheek before floating back down to his cheese. He watched as Adrien went back to researching before looking out of the bedroom windows at the quiet Paris early morning sky in the direction of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He sighed softly to himself.

"You missed Tikki, didn't you?"

Plagg jumped and pouted dramatically before groaning and nodding. "Yeah." He curled up much like a cat on top of his cheese container. "We have a relationship close to what you and Marinette will have. We care very deeply for one another and don't want to see the other hurt or lost or…" He shook his head. "Yeah. I missed her."

Adrien reached over and used one finger to scratch behind one of Plagg's ears. "C'mon buddy, let's get some sleep."

\---

The weekend came and went; Monday started off with an akuma and ended in the beginning of a budding aromantic relationship between two slightly less confused teenage superheroes.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated.  
> I should really be working on my other in progress fics, but alas - here we are.
> 
> =^.^=


End file.
